Events

Conferences promote networking among researchers and also serve to inform the scientific community, educators, and the general public about findings in the research focus area. 

The meta-project implements this through its annual conferences, among other initiatives. In the early years of the project, these conferences were primarily aimed at participants in the projects funded under this program. Starting in 2027, the annual conference will take place with a revised format. The events can draw more heavily on research findings—both from the individual funded projects and from the studies conducted as part of the meta-project. As a result, the target audience for the conferences is being expanded: In addition to the members of the research cluster, we are reaching out to key stakeholders in language education within immigrant communities, such as those involved in teacher training and continuing education, members of education administrations, education policymakers, and representatives of other interest groups, such as parents’ associations. We are planning a conference for 2028 that will be open to a broad professional audience.

• Kick-off 2023: Mapping the Field of Language Education and Addressing Knowledge Transfer in This Field
• Annual Conference 2024: Delivering on the Promise of Knowledge Transfer—How Can It Be Achieved?
• 2025 Annual Conference: Research within the Context of the Field: From Idea to Results 
• 2026 Annual Conference: How Do We Ensure the Continued Relevance of Our Findings and Materials? 

Workshops

The funding directive’s “Workshop Discussions” series has been offered since October 2024. All researchers in the funding line are invited to meet for “Workshop Discussions” on an informal basis. These sessions provide an opportunity, for example, to present research methods or interim results from the projects. Discussions regarding the planning of knowledge transfer products are also encouraged. 

• Under what conditions are practitioners willing to cooperate with academic institutions?, Dr. Moritz Sahlender (DIE), October 23, 2024
• Topic-modeling methods for mapping the field, Dr. Till Woerfel (Mercator Institute), February 19, 2025
• Conditions for Successful Transfer in Language Education—Preliminary Findings from an Interview Study, Prof. Ingrid Gogolin, Dr. Nora Dünkel (University of Hamburg), Prof. Hans-Joachim Roth, Sandro Franken (Mercator Institute), December 3, 2025
• Using Storytelling to Communicate Scientific Content, Julia Hallebach and Annik Köhne (BiSS) (both Mercator Institute), July 1, 2026

Through the MetaTransferforum, we aim to build bridges for language education. The publication of our volume Bridges in a Changing Landscape—Concepts for Professionalizing Language Education in an Immigrant Society in the summer of 2026 marks the launch of this new format. This series of events is designed to enable researchers and professionals in teacher education and professional development to identify and articulate the conditions necessary for co-constructive transfer in language education.

• Building Bridges for Language Education, June 23, 2026

One of the objectives of the meta-project is to actively support and connect researchers in the early stages of their careers who are involved in the funded projects. You can find all the available formats under Qualification.